


Release

by Im_only_mildly_ashamed



Series: MB's poor understanding of one of my favorite games turned into an AU [1]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Dark Souls AU, Gumpter is such a terrible name, I can't fuckin even, M/M, Prison, Skeleton!Gon, Solitary Confinement, Sort of Kind of, Vampire!Killua, dark implications I will never elaborate on, it's realy not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-23 04:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11394909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_only_mildly_ashamed/pseuds/Im_only_mildly_ashamed
Summary: Gon has been chained here for countless years upon years.His body is only bones now.But his release comes in an unexpected way.A traveler who walks funny and needs to hide from the sun.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MurderBaby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurderBaby/gifts).



His shackles had essentially become part of him.

His flesh had long since disappeared, but the tight iron manacles still would not fit over his wrist.

He was connected to a short pillar in the center of the room by long chains on both his wrists.

He’d long ago given up the idea of tearing free from the pillar.

He simply wasn’t strong enough.

The cell he was in is sixteen paces by sixteen paces, with a massive bar window for a ceiling.

When he was living, the somewhat open window was his only source of water.

Now it only provided occasional light.

When the sun reached mid-day, it’s light could actually reach into his cell.

For the rest of his time, the darkness swallowed his bony form whole.

Gon had, for a time, decided to keep a count of how long he’d been jailed.

This practice had started and stopped time and time again, leading to the confusing array of overlapping tallies now completely coating the walls.

Gon’s pointer finger was significantly shorter than his other fingers by virtue of his scrawling.

The entire room bore the marks of his work as scrawled white, chalk-like marks on every surface.

Some were doodles, others may have been one of his many tallies.

With the sun peeking over Gon’s, admittedly smaller than average horizon, it marks day 224 on the Official Gon Freecs Sun Powered Calendar Mark II.

Gon makes a small mark on the eastern wall of his cell, but it’s essentially indiscernible from the surrounding markings.

His counting systems had long ago become mental rather physical.

In any case, the day had started.

But his countlessly repeated routine was interrupted.

By a noise.

For the first time in countless days upon days, he heard a noise that couldn’t be explained by the crumbling jail he resided in falling apart.

He heard a footstep.


	2. Chapter 2

Killua cautiously peered around the corner, still not finding anything but corpses in rusted armour and dust. 

This made him more nervous than the alternative.

At least with some horrific beast laying wait around the next corner the the thick wet gauze of tension would lighten or dissipate.

But with this, he was just left drowning in it.

He was left jumping shadow to shadow, peering round every corner ever so careful to make as little noise as possible.

The building around him was not so generous.

It’s rotted, wooden beams creaked under one another as wetness dripped from soggy flagstones.

Worse than that, the mangled remains of this building allowed the sun to pour through not just the stone-cut windows, but also the crackling holes in the roof.

Killua had to tip-toe carefully around the broiling heat to avoid turning into a steamy red puddle and bones.

Killua has spent the better part of the day dodging and weaving to avoid the sun, but he still hadn’t found anywhere he would call “safe”.

Everywhere he turned, the sun leaked in through the dilapidated walls and pooled into acid on every surface.

With the sun slowly craning up above him, Some areas of ruins were completely blocked off.

The building had becoming a deadly puzzle with changing solutions.

And he was forced higher and higher up the building, up increasingly ruined stairwells and passageways, pushed further and further towards the blazing sun.

Killua suspected he might die here, but he planned to live as long as he could in the meanwhile.

The coiling, lizardy weight around his chest reminded him of the stakes.

He darted under a well of radiant sun as a cloud passed overhead.

The edges of his hair and skin were slightly cooked.


	3. Chapter 3

The footsteps Gon had been hearing were slowly getting louder.

And closer.

He tried not to get his hopes up, he really did but…

No one had gotten this close in years.

Despite how well this mysterious adventurer was doing, Gon was nervous.

No one had reached him since his death.

He nervously thrummed his bony fingers along his shins.

 

Killua had reached the base of what he discerned to be the tallest spire of the building.

The approximately cone shaped tower began with forty or fifty feet between the two weaving stair cases.

Close to the top, one might leap from one set of stairs to the other with no real difficulty as the gap between the two sets of stairs shrunk.

But the strange, slightly decorative sets of stairs did not intrigue Killua as much as the lack of lighting.

It was completely windowless and completely structurally sound.

Killua could make out dozens scones for torches along each of the spiraling staircases, but it’d many years since they’d burnt out.

He was finally safe from the sun and could potentially rest, but…

But who climbs all the way to the highest tower of a centuries old ruin and doesn’t find out what’s at the top of the tower?


	4. Chapter 4

Gon could make out the gait of the person walking up his tower.

Their steps were mismatched, their right foot sticking to the stairs longer than their left.

It seemed to him they were carrying some awkward weight.

He would’ve happily traded a limb to know what it was.

 

 

Killua was actually exhausted.

There seemed to be literally no end to the stairs he was spiralling slowly up.

He’d been alive for centuries.

He’d always hated stairs.

 

Somewhere along the way, the person climbing up the stairs switched from two legs to four.

Their somewhat aggressive walk changed to a four legged shamble.

Gon tapped his short pointer finger onto his chin, thinking carefully.

How long was this going to take?

 

It was a skeleton.

Exactly like the dozens he’d found strewn about on the floors leading up.

Killua was a panting, sweaty mess and there was this fucking corpse chained to the wall.

Killua would laugh from hysteria if he could muster the energy.

Instead he collapsed onto his face and panted.

It’d been along day.

He still had yet to get any sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The creature shambling up his stairs had arrived, and Gon was too focused on figuring out what it was to notice.

He felt like a moron.

He cocked his head to the side, noting the number of limbs and fingers.

It looked human, but as these things go, that doesn’t tend to mean much.

It seemed somewhat cooked around the edges.

He liked it.

But it wasn’t moving.

Gon wasn’t positive what breathing looked like at this point, but he was fairly confident this wasn’t doing that.

He tried to ask if it was alive, but nothing but dusty creaks came out.

His mouth had rotted and his tongue had dried up years ago.

So he settled to lean forward as far as he could, with his arms sticking out behind him and chained to the half pillar.

And tried to imagine having lungs so he could breathe for the both of them.


	6. Chapter 6

Gon has spent years in isolation.

Another day is not special agony.

Eventually his dried, crackling bones cease to cast a shadow.

Eventually the sun stops baking into his browning bones.

Eventually.

He can’t feel heat.

Not really.

But he can almost.

Like having a thought on the tip of your tongue.

He can sometimes almost feel textures.

The vibrations his bony fingers send up his arms as they drag along flagstones.

The rain digging into the cracks and carvings of him.

But he can always feel the manticles.

You’d think he’d get used to them.

Forget they were there.

He didn’t.

The corpse on the other side of his barred door stirred.

Gon neck audibly popped when he swiveled his head.

Killua was not graceful to wake.

He made some manner of disgusting bodily noise before craning his neck up.

And there Gon was, inches from the bars.

Leaned forward against his chains.

Small blue “eyes” peering fixedly at Killua from within his skull.

The vampire curled up into a squatting position.

He reached forward cautiously with one hand.

It bounced gently just above Gon’s eyes.

Killua traced delicately along the ridges near to where is hand landed.

He was stuck like that for a moment.

Just gently tracing over the lines that used to be Gon’s face.


	7. Chapter 7

Gon could almost feel it.

Almost.

Those gentle, prodding movements.

Almost.

Damn it.

Just… barely out of reach.

Gon jerked his face away.

Killua’s hand stayed half poised towards him from between the bars.

He pulled it back.

Killua curled his fingers awkwardly.

“Who are you?” He croaked, face a blue-ish shade of blushed.

Gon snapped his jaw open and closed to indicate he couldn’t speak.

He wasn’t sure what the thing has said, but it was clearly a question.

Killua nodded slowly.

He swallowed.

He wasn’t sure how to phrase this.

Gon leveraged his creaking jaw open and closed for a few moments.

He pulled himself back on the chains attaching him to the half pillar, getting farther from the door.

Killua almost stood up.

Perhaps the bony thing wanted to stay here.

Once Gon had enough arm room, he put his shackled arm in front of him and bit into the cold steel wrapped around his wrist.

His teeth found a set of matching indents on it’s surface.

He turned his blue orbs up at Killua expectantly.

Killua nodded back.


	8. Chapter 8

Killua traced his hands along the bars of Gon’s prison door.

They were rusted brown and partially eaten through.

With a stiff kick, the door bent and caved out of shape.

Another pair kicks to each side popped it from the frame completely.

Gon sat as close as he could and held up his manacles.

Killua observed them without touching.

They were steel, and just a little too shiny.

He didn’t trust them.

There must have been a reason Gon was still chained to the wall after everything else had rusted and worn away.

There must be a reason Gon was still alive.

Killua peeled back his his bulky black cloak to expose the scaly creature wrapped around his chest.

The creature yawned and crawled into his flesh a little as it began to unfurl.

It’s fledgling wings fluttered gracelessly as it began to clamber down from him.

Killua pointed to the small dragon.

“Gumpter.” was all he said.

Gon nodded slowly.

Eventually it reached the ground and clacked its tiny claws on the stone as it shambled to Gon.

Gon tried to reach for it but came up short, the manacle wearing into bone.

The glorified sloth lizard sniffed at the glinting, scarred steel around Gon’s wrist.

It popped a forked tongue from between its lips and onto the metal.

There was a small hiss.

It burned red, then white, then green, then slowly softened back to it’s original color.

Gon looked at it very sadly for a brief moment.

A deafening screech shot from the manacle.

Gon stuck his arm as far away from himself as he could, clapping his other hand over where his ear used to be.

Killua plugged his ears and gritted his teeth.

Gumpter blinked sleepily.

The manacle started to crack, and small spots of red heat welled up where the cracks formed.

The cracks would form then melt back into shape, and the process was speeding up.

Soon it was flashing from entirely melted to splintered into pieces.

After a few agonizing seconds, the cuff collapsed off of Gon’s wrist into a puddle on the floor.

He stared at the spot where it was moments ago.

The next thing Killua could sense was the sound of a metal chain snapping rigid.

Gon had lunged for him with one arm still restrained.


	9. Chapter 9

Killua was fast, but Gon had a head start.

Gon wrapped an almost spidery hand around Killua’s shoulder.

They both frozen a moment.

Gon’s hand snapped around the back of Killua’s neck.

Both could hear Gon’s joints creaking against his other chain.

The skeleton leaned closer and closer.

He mashed his teeth into Killua’s lips and held them there a moment.

Before releasing him.

Killua swallowed, intensely flustered.

Had it just…

Kissed him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> b the b, i'm sorry if I don't reply, I don't like to inflate numbers.  
> Jut know what if you comment, I love you.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry world ;-;
> 
> Comments&kudos make my soulless soul soulier


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